The Mosque (Masjid)

The mosque is the place of communal prayer in Islam and, historically, a centre of learning and civic life.

At a glance

A mosque (masjid, “place of prostration”) is at root simply a space set aside for prayer, oriented toward the Kaʿba in Mecca. Its essential features grew from that function: a wall marking the direction of prayer (the qibla), a niche within it (the miḥrāb) indicating the direction, a pulpit (minbar) for the Friday sermon, a courtyard and fountain for ablution, and — added later — the minaret from which the call to prayer is given.

Because Islamic devotion turns away from the depiction of living forms in sacred settings, the mosque became a canvas for other arts: geometry, arabesque, and above all the written word, with verses of the Qur'an worked into tile, stone and stucco. From the simple courtyard of the Prophet's mosque in Medina to the great domed complexes of later empires, the mosque expresses in built form the faith's central affirmation of the one God.

The mosque has rarely been only a place of prayer. Through much of Islamic history it doubled as a school, court and meeting place — the beating civic heart of the Muslim town.

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Curated reference on Islamic belief and thought. On matters where traditions differ, positions are attributed rather than adjudicated; verify points of doctrine with qualified scholars.